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Preparation

Preparation

Tonality and Tonal Center

1. "Center" of a Scale? In the previous session, I introduced two scales as the most fundamental scales in Western music. C Major Scale A Minor Scale Comparing the two scales, the only difference is where scales start, which tones work as the central tones. But what does it mean by start or center? It's about music, the invisible art.…
yuta
June 11, 2024
Preparation

Timbre (2) Amplitude Envelope

1. Amplitude Envelope Last time you learned about the spectrum and overtones, but another fundamental parameter related to timbre is the temporal change in volume. For example, with snare drum sounds, some have a short, quick decay like "tac", while others have a long sustain like "zaaahn". Within a single hit, when the volume reaches its peak and how it…
yuta
June 12, 2024
Preparation

Timbre (1) Sound Spectrum

So far, we've covered "scales" and "keys". Now, let's talk about an even more fundamental topic before delving into the specifics of melody, chords, and rhythm. That's the topic of timbre. We all know that the timbre of a piano is different from that of a guitar, but what exactly makes them different? This is essential knowledge in music production,…
yuta
June 9, 2024
Preparation

Circle of Fifths

1. Circle of Fifths As explained in , Any key other than C major or A minor need to involve black keys to construct the correct step structure. But manually measuring "WWSWWWS" is cumbersome. So music theory, surprisingly, offers an official cheat sheet for this! (png version here) This is called . It was named so because the clockwise progression…
yuta
April 11, 2024
Preparation

Interval (1) Counting ABC

1. What is Interval? A melody is a succession of notes and a chord is a stack of notes. Whether horizontal or vertical, it is clear that the secret of music lies in the distance between tones, more specifically, the differential between pitches. Now here's - and -. It is clear that the gap between - is wider than the…
yuta
June 9, 2024
Preparation

Key and Key Signature

1. Key It is explained before that all the instruments should (basically) play the same scale in a scene of a song. To designate a scale, we have another term : . When a song is made mainly with C major scale, we say like... This song is in the key of C major. Saying that "This song is C…
yuta
June 11, 2024
Preparation

Mechanism of Scales (2)Transposition

1. All That Matters is Step In the previous section you saw the mechanism of scales; The arrangement of whole tone and semitone determines the basic sound character of a scale. Step structure is the definitive factor for its sound, which means that you can construct major scale from any note as the center. You may have practiced singing like…
yuta
June 9, 2024
Preparation

Mechanism of Scales (1)Tone and Semitone

1. The Mechanism Reviewing the previous section; A scale is a collection of tones. One of the scale members works as a captain, which is called the tonal center(T.C.). So even when the members are identical, the mood a scale produces may differ according to which note acts as the center. "C Major Scale" "A Minor Scale" But....Isn't it strange?…
yuta
June 11, 2024
Preparation

Major Scale and Minor Scale

1. Tones and a Scale Western music theory is built on the basis of twelve tones, as represented by the piano keyboard. These are like "colored pencils", with which you paint music. you don't necessarily use all the 12 tones to write a song. Especially in loop-style music, the same tone is used over and over again, to create a…
yuta
May 26, 2024
Preparation

Pitch Names

1. Variation of Pitch Names This website is written in English—Which means that people from various countries will visit here. And since music education differs between countries, I'd like to start from checking the very basis of music : the names of pitches. I suppose that assigning alphabets is the most prevalent system in the world but it may differ…
yuta
May 26, 2024